Stephen Hawking Says We Need To Leave Earth

But Do We Really Only Have 100 Years Left?

May 9, 2017

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“Professor Stephen Hawking thinks the human species will have to populate a new planet within 100 years if it is to survive. With climate change, overdue asteroid strikes, epidemics and population growth, our own planet is increasingly precarious.”

Recently, renowned theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, announced the human race was on a fast-track to ruining planet Earth. Our rate of destruction is so great that, according to Hawking, we only have 100 years left on Earth before we really need to find another planet to call home. But, just how accurate is this theory?

According to Stephen Hawking’s upcoming BBC documentary called Expedition New Earth, humankind only has 100 years left in order to find a new planet to populate if we want to survive beyond planet Earth and the imminent destruction being caused.

With the aim of Stephen Hawking’s documentary being how — and if — humans could populate other planets, some people are wondering if this is just a publicity stunt aimed at getting people interested in space travel once again.

“In this landmark series, Expedition New Earth, he enlists engineering expert Danielle George and his own former student, Christophe Galfard, to find out if and how humans can reach for the stars and move to different planets.”

After all, as the Independent pointed out, in November of last year, Hawking gave a speech at Oxford University Union, stating he didn’t think the human race “will survive another 1,000 years without escaping beyond our fragile planet.”

[Image by NASAIMAX [Public domain] Wikimedia Commons]Hawking, at his November speech, also stated that humans were devouring Earth’s resources at such a rate that we needed to find a new planet to live on, citing either the Moon or Mars as potential options.

So what has changed since then to make Stephen Hawking think humans only have 100 years left to think outside planet Earth in order to survive?

The upcoming BBC documentary states that with the way humans have been treating the earth, things are becoming precarious.

However, as Fox News points out, part of the Earth’s recent destruction by humankind is largely thanks to science itself. Plus, moving to a new planet is not a way to fix the human problem we currently have, it just means we will have a new planet to ruin. After all, already space is encumbered by junk left behind by previous endeavors.

As yet, there appears to be no reason as to why Stephen Hawking has decided to upgrade from 1,000 years to merely 100 years until humans need to find a new planet if we continue on at the rate of destruction on Earth. However, considering the new documentary featuring Hawking is part of BBC’s science season and a return to their Tomorrow’s World program that has been resurrected after 14 years, according to the Telegraph, perhaps the statement made is merely a scientific hypotheses and not an actual fact yet?

The new version of Tomorrow’s World aims to “inspire current and future generations, to convince them to embrace the opportunities that science brings, to foster a spirit of curiosity and tolerance, and to embrace the unknown not in fear but in wonder.”

Therefore, the statement made by Hawking could have been taken out of context in order to create a pretty interesting and thought-provoking conversation ahead of the upcoming documentary. After all, since the statement has been released by the BBC, everyone is talking about the shock factor of how we only have 100 years left on Earth rather than how we can change things in order to fix the problem.

What do you think, is Stephen Hawking’s warning about the state of our Earth scaremongering or is it time to look to the stars for our salvation? Let us know your thoughts and theories by commenting below.